Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine- Mix It In Ice Cream Maker for Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, Gelato, Drinks 1.5 Quart, White, ICE-48

We just used this machine tonight, and we are VERY pleased with it. I read through all the 48 other comments on this page before buying, and was a little daunted by the negatives, but we promised the kids to get the machine, so we took the plunge. Thought we would need a second bowl since we have 7 kids, but found it not so. We used regular sized Keebler Waffle Cones, piled to the top but not beyond, and everyone got one (even Mom and Dad) with a couple of the bigger eaters getting seconds. Here are my observations: 1) The bowl gets plenty cold if your freezer is plenty cold. Folks down below who claim they had cold freezers and their bowls didn't get cold enough ... don't know what to say about 'em. 'Cold' is one of those things that either it is, or it ain't. Enough said. I started dispensing after 15 minutes, because I was afraid the bowl would start warming up, but as I got to the last cones, I noticed the ice cream continued to harden and look more "professional" as it dispensed. Next time I'll wait until 20. After the bowl had been out of the deep freeze for 40 minutes, we rinsed it in HOT water, and the water froze solid to the bowl. That's cold. 2) The mix in thingy worked perfectly. I couldn't believe how neat-o that was. Follow the directions on sizes, and you won't go wrong. 3) I took the advice downstream and avoided the Cuisinart recipes. We just used our family favorite old fashined vanilla, with the raw eggs, flour, salt, sugar, milk, and cream. No problems. I made our usual 6 or so quarts that we put in the full-sized ice cream freezer, so we have left-overs for tomorrow. Final analysis: Cold freezer, follow directions. That simple. Sucker works like a charm. I had kids hugging me and thanking me for buying the machine - it doesn't get much better than that.

I had to wait til 1 am, so my picture is a little dark. But I specifically bought this machine to make dolw whips using the mix sold here on amazon. the machine worked great. I honestly don't care at all about the sprinkles, probably won't ever use that feature. But it was quick to assemble, came fast, froze the bowl for 12 hours and viola I had dole whip at nearly 2 am LOL. it's a definite win! *update 1-15-20* I've used this machine many many times now with different recipes, if you follow the directions it is an amazing machine. Some people complain that it is difficult to clean, this is BS it's like anything else, you take a few parts off wash and done. My Dad LOVES the vanilla recipe from the book, it's creamy, and sweet but not overly sweet. We've done chocolate, vanilla, dole whip powder mix, and I've made a few of my own concoctions like caramel macchiato, strawberry, and once the bases are made I've scooped the ice cream out and made homemade rocky road, and tin roof sundae to name a few. I honestly have never had a problem with my machine. The negative reviews sound to me like people who didn't bother to fully read and understand the capacity, cleaning instructions, or try to follow the directions to make the ice cream as intended. To be honest if you want fast cheap ice cream then yeah go pay a buttload at DQ or somewhere else. But if you want fresh, homemade, with your own ingredients and ice cream that you can freeze and make any variety at home from scratch, this machine is a dream if you follow the directions. My Dad, Niece, Nephew, and several guests will attest to that, they've all enjoyed ice cream from my machine. Still loving my machine after almost a year now. :)

We absolutely love this at-home ice cream machine! Every time we have family over or throw a party, this becomes the highlight—especially for the kids! It’s fun, easy to use, and makes soft serve with great texture that rivals the real thing. The bowl needs to be frozen before use, so we keep it stored in the freezer and ready to go at all times. I also love that it comes with homemade recipe suggestions and a built-in side compartment for toppings—such a fun touch! ⛔️ Heads-up: It’s a bit bulky, so we store it away between uses to save counter space. Only one mix can be preparred Cleaning requires disassembly, but it’s easy to take apart and reassemble. The churning takes some time, so make sure your mix is well-chilled before starting to get the best results. Overall, this is a great homemade ice cream machine and I highly suggest for the price.

I’ve made over 50 gallons of ice cream with this ice cream machine! The recipes are outstanding and cleaning is easy. I occasionally add my own additives by hand with certain recipes to control the distribution as using the auger screw can be challenging (with some recipes). I purchased a second tumbler to increase efficiency so I can make 2 quarts in an hour. I may purchase another tumbler… Solid machine!

I love my old delonghi that finall gave out, after almost 20 years. LOVED IT. It was a compressor model and i know this was not. So I purchased two bowl, that amazon recommended to go with it. IT DID NOT, this ice cream maker is newer style and bowl revised, $50 bucks waisted after packaging gone and frozen bowl that did not fit. I think what I do not like is the way this works, messy, too many parts that are unnecessary = hard to really clean and to make it, you really need a very cream based recipe, whole milk, not a way to make a healthy alternative like in a normal compressor nodel, so i made it (after the first bowl disaster) and it was ok, worked, not great, a bit soft and runny (just limp), or it then went too frozen and would not come out. Very little wiggle room, not good. But it worked about 80% of what I expected and have again, experience in making ice cream. I think if i was on a budget, and this was not a budget buy at $179, but if so, i would buy just a simple freezer bowl maker, more options in recipes, you do not need to worry about the soft serve being just right recipe and timing and better experience. I would not buy this again. BUT, i also would really not buy a freezer bowl model again, instead there are new compressor models out there, amazon and magazine recommended I am going to buy, they are about $280, but for the extra money, they do more, no freezing and will use more like my old delonghi. I just do not like this one from Cusinart, it has a limited window of results, take a bit too long, the recipe is really based on heavy cream and milk (not at all healthy and tastes like fatty ice cream) and the texture is only so so. It is way too many parts, messy, big and complicated. Add to this the shoot for kids toppings did not really work, was super messy. This is more of a novelty that was part of a party that I will just never want or like to use again. Waist of money, go better with a compressor if you really make ice cream or a smaller freeser bowl unit - same size both, but smaller machine and not mess and easier, cheaper and you just make ice cream over limp soft serve. I do not recommend this item.

Where to begin? Not as simple as photos depict. Too much thought was given to the dispensing of toppings, and not enough thought given to ease of assembly. We haven't used, nor do we intend to use, the toppings side. Yet, that was used as an appeal in the photos. As for the actual maker, know that there is lots to keep in mind: must keep the inner bowl frozen until use, must be sure to assemble the pull-down unit, the bowl, the mixer wand and the lid precisely. The directions to do so are poorly written. The only good thing so far is that it's easy to clean. Conclusion: not worth it.

I bought the Cuisinart ICE-45 Mix It In Soft Serve machine for the sole purpose of making my own Disney Dole Whips at home. After some research, I found that the Dole Pineapple Soft Serve mix is the exact stuff that Disney uses in the parks. The only problem is that the bag is intended to be mixed all at once and not in small portions. I used 2 1/3 cups of water and 1 1/3 cup of mix to make a quart of Dole Whip which just fits into this machine. Chill mix for 30 minutes before pouring into the soft serve machine. For optimal freezing, I keep the freezer bowl in my deep freeze and leave it there until I'm ready to make some ice cream. Regular freezer/refrigerators don't get as cold as the deep freezes. After 20-25 minutes in the Cuisinart - I have the perfect texture for soft serve ice cream. I made the mistake of turning it off once and the ice cream got so hard that the machine would not restart. I also have tried the Frostline Chocolate and Vanilla soft serve and was very impressed with those mixes (1 cup mix, 1 3/4 cup water). I should try my own home recipe one of these days but the mixes are cheap and very easy. I don't care to use the "mix it in" feature of this machine. It works, but its easier to just sprinkle toppings by hand and some toppings get too hard to eat.

I got this to make our own "ice cream" because my little boy has bad food allergies to just about everything. He is only able to drink almond milk...so basically all icecream, yogurt, "ice milk", etc. are not an option. I received the box from Amazon the next day (LOVE Prime!) and proceeded to put it together. It is very easy to assemble from a few parts. The instructions are super clear. It also includes a substantial recipe book for gourmet ice cream, sorbets, etc. The freezing bowl has to be washed and frozen for 12hr prior to use, so keep that in mind for your planning. You can purchase additional bowls on Amazon for a very reasonable cost, so you can always have one ready while the other(s) are freezing. The actual ice cream only takes about 15 minutes to make! The first batch I made was perfect. I used almond milk, a little sugar, a spot of vanilla extract, and one smashed-up banana. The machine does all the rest of the work. If you are into toppings or mix-in's....the containers on the side hold the sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc., and mix them into the ice cream as it's being dispensed!! Clean up is very easy as well. Just pop off the few parts that contact the icecream, wash them off, and they're ready for next time. All in all this is a very fun, SUPER easy to use and clean ice cream machine. I'd recommend it to anyone with kids or who like to make a quick and easy dessert for themselves from time to time.